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2024/25 – Our Charity Year in Review – Investing

Investing in Biomedical Research into the causes, consequences and treatment of ME/CFS

Through the provision of funds, we aim to:

  • Be an accessible source of finance for scientifically sound research from researchers (normally) at the beginning of their careers.
  • Fund projects, the results of which produce findings to enrich the research world’s understanding of ME/CFS.
  • Generate data for larger studies or to build upon for applications to central funding bodies; e.g. United Kingdom Research and Innovation/Medical Research Council.
  • Encourage new researchers into ME/CFS research.

During the charity year to 31st October 2025 the charity has invested a further £866,328.80 into ME research covering 6 ME/CFS research projects in 4 countries (Australia, Latvia, Belgium and UK) plus a Fellowship, and including an offer to fund a further UK project which was made before 31st October 2025.

Since 2000, ME Research UK has invested over £5m in ME research globally.



ME Research UK – Delivering Research: Delivering Results.

From PhD-level research, postdoctoral fellowships, and to project funding, ME Research UK is the only UK charity with laser-like focus on research through the various stages of research globally. With these initiatives, ME Research UK has now funded over £5m of high quality ME research since its inception in 2000.

Step-by-step we are helping to build the research infrastructure which has been absent for decades.

ME Research UK has 16 ongoing studies, including 6 newly funded projects and 3 PhD-level research projects, and these represent more than £2 million currently invested in ME/CFS research globally. The research for which we have recently awarded funding covers a number of areas of interest, including 2 studies looking at immune abnormalities, 2 investigating genetic factors, and 2 looking at biomarkers and diagnosis. The total value of awards given since 2000 is now more than £5 million.
 

New Research Projects in 2024/25

  • Project 69
    Sarah Annesley, La Trobe University, Australia. “Do MicroRNAs regulate platelet activation and associated metabolic dysfunction in women with ME/CFS?”
  • Project 70
    Bhupesh Prusty, Riga Stradins University, Latvia. “Dissecting the mechanism of immunoglobulin-mediated alterations in ME/CFS using single-cells to organoids.”
  • Projects 71A
    Funded by the Gordon Parish Charitable Trust
    Andrea Polli, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. “Unravelling immune exhaustion, immune senescence, and their contribution to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.”
  • Project 71B
    Funded by the Gordon Parish Charitable Trust
    Lode Godderis, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. “Unravelling immune exhaustion, immune senescence, and their contribution to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.”
  • Project 72
    Joint funding with the ME Association
    Jacqueline Cliff, Brunel University London, UK. “The electrophysiology of ME/CFS: advancing the electrical model of PBMCs for aetiology and diagnosis.”

New Fellowship in 2024/25

  • Fellowship 01
    Alkisti Manousaki, University of Leicester, UK. “Decoding the female bias in ME/CFS at the molecular and cellular ultrastructural level”

 Ongoing Projects in 2023/24

  • Project 47
    Jarred Younger, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA “Tracking peripheral immune cell infiltration of the brain in ME.”
  • Project 55
    James Allison, Newcastle University, UK, “EluCidATe: Exploring pain and autonomic dysfunction in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Temporomandibular disorders.”
  • Project 59
    Amy Proal, PolyBio Research Foundation, Medford, MA, USA, ” Use of advanced metagenomic technologies for the identification of viruses in ICC-diagnosed ME/CFS patient tissue and nerve biopsy samples.”
  • Project 60
    Prof Simon Carding, Quadram Institute, Norwich, UK, “Gut eukaryotic viruses as a player in ME/CFS.”
  • Project 61
    Dr Eliana Lacerda & Prof. Geraldine Cambridge, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine & UCL, UK, “Antibody Discovery using Novel Microarray of Functional Proteins in patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue syndrome: a pilot study.”
  • Project 62
    Dr Zack Shan, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia. “Non-invasive MR imaging of chronic neuroinflammation in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).”
  • Project 63
    Dr Bo Christer Bertilson, Medect Clinical Trials, Bragée Clinics, Sweden. “Proteomic and metabolomic analyses to reveal biomarkers of ME/CFS – a case-control study of blood and spinal fluid.”
  • Project 64
    Prof. Janet Taylor, Edith Cowan University, Australia. “Investigation of motoneurone firing behaviour and associations with symptom severity in individuals with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.”
  • Project 65
    Prof. François-Jérôme Authier, Henri Mondor University Hospital, France. “Neurocognitive impairment in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME): Neuropsychological evaluation and functional brain imaging study – COGNIME 2022.”
  • Project 66 (offered prior to 31st Oct 2023 and accepted post 1st November 2023).
    Prof. Fatima Labeed, University of Surrey, UK, “The Electrophysiology of ME/CFS: Development of an Electrical Model for Exploration and Diagnosis.” (joint grant with the ME Association).
  • Project 67
    Prof. Leighton Barnden, Griffith University, Australia, “Tracking changes in the structure and function of the brain over time in ME/CFS.”
  • Project 68
    Rob Wüst, Vrije University Amsterdam, the Netherlands. “Skeletal muscle microclots and microvascular pathophysiology in ME/CFS.”

PhD-level research projects

  • PHD – 002
    Prof Chris Ponting, University of Edinburgh, UK. “Experimental investigation of genetic risk factors for ME/CFS revealed by the DecodeME project.”
  • PHD – 003
    Dr Sarah Annesley, La Trobe University, Australia. “Cause-effect relationships in the mitochondrial energy inefficiency in ME/CFS.”
  • PHD – 004
    Prof. Jo Nijs, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. “Mitochondrial dysfunction in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): are autonomic phenotypes necessary to clear conflicting results?”
  • PHD – 005
    Dr Douglas Barrett, Leicester University, UK. “Impaired selective attention as a cognitive and neurophysiological markers of ME/CFS.”

 Projects Completed in 2023/24

  • Project 63
    Dr Bo Christer Bertilson, Medect Clinical Trials, Bragée Clinics, Sweden. “Proteomic and metabolomic analyses to reveal biomarkers of ME/CFS – a case-control study of blood and spinal fluid.”
  • Project 64
    Prof. Janet Taylor, Edith Cowan University, Australia. “Investigation of motoneurone firing behaviour and associations with symptom severity in individuals with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.”
  • Project 66
    Prof. Fatima Labeed, University of Surrey, UK, “The Electrophysiology of ME/CFS: Development of an Electrical Model for Exploration and Diagnosis.” (joint grant with the ME Association).

Offered prior to 31st October 2025

Offered but not yet accepted

  • Project 073
    Funded by E M Thompson
    Chris Ponting, University of Edinburgh, UK ” Creating an accurate biomarker panel for myalgic encephalomyelitis.”

Impact and Scientific Publications

A widely accepted means by which the work of the charity can be assessed is to gauge the number of scientific publications emanating from specific projects. Ten papers were published by researchers in the charity year 2024/25 acknowledging the support of ME Research UK.

Key Findings of ME Research UK researchers within the year

  • Changes in connectivity in the hypothalamus were reported in adolescents with ME/CFS. The hypothalamus is a part of the brain responsible for controlling a wide range of processes in the body. (Project 40)
  • People with ME/CFS and those with long COVID had larger volumes of several areas of the hippocampus, compared with healthy control subjects. The hippocampus is a brain structure involved in memory and learning. (Project 57)
  • Human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) profiles could accurately distinguish between women with ME/CFS, those with fibromyalgia and healthy control subjects. These “HERV fingerprints” could therefore be valuable in the diagnosis of both conditions. (Project 54)
  • Using hospital data, 0.25% of men and 0.92% of women in the UK are now estimated to have a diagnosis of post-viral fatigue – the diagnosis most closely matching ME/CFS. This suggests that 403,922 people in the UK have a diagnosis of post-viral fatigue. (Project 22 & PhD002)

    Prevalence rate for ME drawn from deCodeME redefined prevalence in UK and become de facto standard figure replacing NICE. Through a series of articles ME Research UK examined critically existing prevalence estimates and promulgated a new research-based figure of  “at least 400,000” which is backed by ME Research-UK funded researcher evidence. This has now become a standard figure quoted by HM Government and the media.
  • Variants in a number of genes were found to be significantly associated with ME/CFS.
  • These genes are involved in several processes in the brain, including the generation of new neurons, and have been linked with the development of neurological conditions. (Project 15-042)
  • Individuals with ME/CFS were shown to have reduced muscle strength, reduced muscle endurance and greater perceived effort during muscle endurance tasks.


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